Galatasaray held Barcelona to a 0-0 draw, while Sevilla thrashed West Ham.
Barcelona’s newfound attacking zeal was short-lived on Thursday, as the team was held to a 0-0 stalemate by Galatasaray in the first leg of the Europa League round of 16 tie at Camp Nou. Barcelona has had a difficult season, but has recently shown signs of improvement by winning four consecutive games in all competitions and scoring a total of 14 goals during that time.
However, after failing to qualify for the Champions League knockout rounds for the first time since 2004, the Spanish giant couldn’t come any closer to scoring than when Frenkie de Jong hit the post.
Barca will immediately travel to Turkey for the return leg of the competition, where it has a realistic chance of winning. In the Spanish league, Barcelona is out of the Copa del Rey and 15 points behind Honest to Goodness Madrid. Prior to that, Moroccan forward Munir scored in the first minute of the second half to give Sevilla a 1-0 Europa League victory over West Ham.
Sevilla’s inclusion paid off against an English club competing in its first European knockout round in 40 years, as the English side was unable to take their chances in a similarly facilitated environment at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium, which will host the final in May.
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Rangers defeated Red Star Belgrade 3-0, Atalanta came back from a goal down to overcome Leverkusen 3-2, and Braga blanked Monaco 2-0 in other games. After Russia’s armed invasion of Ukraine, all Russian clubs were banished from international competitions, and Leipzig’s match with Spartak Moscow was canceled. Leipzig qualified for the quarterfinals by default.
Jose Mourinho’s Roma won 1-0 against Vitesse of the Netherlands in the Europa Conference League. Leicester beat Rennes 2-0 at home, while Feyenoord fought back to beat Partizan Belgrade 5-2.
Marseille, Bodo/Glimt, Slavia Prague, and PAOK were also victorious in the first leg. The games for the second leg will take place on March 17.
Barcelona dominated possession but struggled to produce clear-cut chances, and even new striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who came on as a substitute, failed to spark the assault. After Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitic suffered an injury during the warmup, Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui had to make a last-minute roster change. Munir was sent in to replace him, and his substitution paid off as the Moroccan attacker half-volleyed the winner past West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola on the hour mark.
In his return from injury, former Manchester United attacker Anthony Martial came off the bench for Sevilla, although the Spanish squad was without several key players, including Diego Carlos and Papu Gomez.
West Ham’s greatest chance came after 10 minutes, when Nikola Vlasic’s close-range header was saved by Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
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Rangers scored two goals in four minutes to take a 2-0 lead early in the first half after defeating Borussia; Dortmund. In the 11th minute, captain James Tavernier scored from the penalty spot; and Alfredo Morelos extended the lead with a low drive.
In the second half, Leon Balogun put the game away with a header.
After Leverkusen took the lead through Charles Aranguiz; Ruslan Malinovsky and Luis Muriel both scored in a two-minute stretch to begin Atalanta’s comeback. After halftime, Muriel added his second, but Moussa Diaby equalized with a looping shot.
Abel Ruiz gave Braga the lead in the third minute, and substitute Vitor Oliveira added the second a minute later. On Wednesday, Lyon defeated Porto 1-0 and Eintracht Frankfurt defeated Real Betis 2-1 in separate matches.
CONFERENCE LEAGUE OF EUROPE
Roma’s Sergio Oliveira scored the game-winning goal in first-half injury time. Marc Albrighton and substitute Kelechi Iheanacho both scored a goal to secure a 2-0 win over; Rennes with Leicester striker Jamie Vardy out again with an injury.
Marseille defeated Basel 2-1 thanks to a penalty conversion and a rebound goal by Poland forward Arkadiusz Milik. Bodo/Glimt beat AZ Alkmaar 2-1 for their eighth straight home victory in Europe, after knocking out Scottish heavyweights Celtic.
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The game with the most goals was at Eindhoven, as Copenhagen led PSV 1-0, 3-1; and 4-3 before settling for a 4-4 tie. Feyenoord scored four straight goals to take a big advantage back home for the second leg. Partizan led 2-1 when replacement Nemanja Jovic volleyed in 40 seconds into the second half.
Yira Sor of Slavia Prague scored two first-half goals on rapid counters; to lead Slavia Prague to a 4-1 home victory over LASK of Austria. PAOK also won 1-0 against Gent.